[PS14-2B-3] Early Diagnosis and Intervention in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Leo Kanner had described ten children in a paper entitled “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact” almost 75 years ago. Recent studies in the field of psychoneurobiology have provided important data on the neurodevelopmental origins of the disorder. However, it is still not possible to identify the brain regions and the pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to autism. The disorder, which is conceptualized as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) nowadays, is considered to be a behaviorally defined complex developmental life long condition including a range of developmental impairments in reciprocal social interaction and communication and stereotyped, repetitive behaviors. The disorder presents a clinical appearance in the form of a spectrum. Within the spectrum, intellectual, social and communication skills and stereotyped behaviors occur along a continuum from minimal to severe symptoms. Despite the consensus that ASD specific deviant features and markers start well before 30 months of age, the heterogeneity within the spectrum make the diagnosis more complex before 36 months of age. The most important requirement for early diagnosis is to know and evaluate normal development in toddlerhood in detail. The earlier the interventions for ASD are started and the more intense they are, the better the results of the interventions are. It is important that each toddler evaluated is well assessed also in the psychosocial development area and directed to child psychiatry specialists for diagnosis confirmation treatment planning.